Concept
If it doesn't exist, we build it
No environment has everything already in place. In particular, techniques for observing nanoscale regions in liquid are needed in a wide range of fields, from biological measurement to catalytic materials. Today, there seem to be very few researchers who develop analytical techniques themselves to uncover new facts, yet in such cutting-edge research, problems often cannot be solved by simply extending conventional methods. Rather than giving up at that point, we strongly believe that building what is needed, from measurement techniques and hardware to measurement and analysis software, is essential to overcoming these challenges. Along the way, you can learn drawing with CAD, measurement programming (LabVIEW), electronic circuit and PCB design (KiCad), and the finite element method (COMSOL). Anything you have never done before can be confusing at first, but just like mountain climbing, if you keep climbing you will certainly acquire these skills. Although applied research is in high demand these days, we work hard, as a university should, to develop from scratch the tools that make the previously impossible possible. We recommend our lab to anyone who wants to build things.
Examples of instruments we have developed: SECM, SICM, SECCM, SNOM, optical microscopes, confocal microscopes, low-current measurement devices, potentiostats, motorized XYZ manipulators, and motorized XY stages.
We build scanning probe microscopes, too
Takahashi has been developing original scanning probe microscopes for 15 years. Starting from zero with LabVIEW, which he had never used before, he now also writes FPGA code. When he started, he was a complete beginner who had no idea how a PC communicates with and controls an instrument; today, the lab develops techniques specialized for measurements in liquid that are rare worldwide. For example, we continue to improve the resolution and speed of our in-house instruments, including SICM specialized for imaging the shape of living cells, SECM capable of measuring cellular metabolites, and SECCM capable of evaluating the catalytic activity of materials. In particular, low-current amplifiers are an essential element of micro- and nanoscale electrochemical measurements, and we are developing our own amplifiers aiming at the world's fastest speed and highest sensitivity. When an instrument you built yourself works as intended and produces a beautiful image, you feel a sense of achievement and excitement that only those who have done it can understand.
Thinking for yourself and seeing it through
In research, we take on challenges every day that no one has attempted before. Things rarely work from the start, but each member becomes a pioneer in their field and, through collaborations with universities and companies, gains the skills to find problems, discover solutions and advance research. Senior lab members also teach many things very carefully. We believe it is very important to keep taking on at least one new challenge every day.
Background of our technology development
Takahashi learned and developed SECM in the laboratory of Prof. Tomokazu Matsue at Tohoku University, a pioneer of biosensing with SECM, and received his Ph.D. in March 2009. He then studied SICM as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow for Research Abroad under Prof. Yuri Korchev, a pioneer of SICM, and developed SECM-SICM. After returning to Japan in October 2011, he began developing SECCM in-house at WPI-AIMR, Tohoku University. Developing both the software and hardware from scratch, he built SECCM in about three years. After moving to Prof. Takeshi Fukuma's laboratory at Kanazawa University as an Associate Professor in October 2015, he has worked on high-speed SICM and the evaluation of catalytic materials by SECCM; in addition, he learned the super-resolution AFM being developed by Prof. Fukuma, assembled one himself, and uses it in his research. He is currently working to scale down the research target from single cells to organelles.